Thursday, August 6, 2015

In a summer of sporting firsts, Chile men’s national team captured their maiden Copa America crown while Victor Espinoza became the first Latin American jockey to ride a Triple Crown-winning horse. Mexican soccer teams have never captured the Copa Libertadores but UANL Tigres hoped to change that on Thursday night. Alas, it was not to be as storied Argentine side River Plate won South America’s top soccer club tournament with an emphatic 3-0 home victory.

After a scoreless first leg in Monterrey, the first half of the return leg in Buenos Aires was largely dull with scant scoring chances and plenty of fouls for both sides. Yet on the verge of halftime Los Millonarios finally broke through when recently acquired Lucas Alario headed home the first goal of the match. The fouls piled up in the second half and it seemed inevitable that a player for either team would be sent off or cause a foul in the penalty box. The latter would occur in favor of River Plate and Carlos Sanchez coolly converted the penalty kick to double his side’s lead. Most of the 60,000 plus ay the packed Estadio Monumental could sense that River was on the cusp of ending their nineteen-year Copa Libertadores title drought, and this was assured by a Ramiro Funes Mori goal eleven minutes from full time.

Neither the pouring rain nor the impending departure of Funes Mori dampened the spirits of River fans including thousands who celebrated near the Monumental and iconic Obelisco de Buenos Aires into the wee hours of the morning.

* Mexico: Mexican police arrested a suspect in the recent massacre of five people including a photojournalist and a #YoSoy132 activist but that may not be enough to allay fears among members of the press and human rights campaigners.

* Puerto Rico: Could statehood help Puerto Rico overcome their public debt woes or is it an unrealistic solution?

* Uruguay: More than 400,000 workers could protest tools today and participate in the first general strike in Uruguay since 2007.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

* Chile: Chile is one step closer to modifying its complete ban on abortions as legislators move forward with a bill that would partially legalize the procedure.

* Venezuela: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blasted the U.S. government hours after the State Department called on barred opposition figures to be allowed to run in upcoming local elections.

* Ecuador: A U.S. appeals court ordered Ecuador’s government to pay “a $96 million international arbitration award” to Chevron in a case unrelated to an environmental damages lawsuit between both parties.

* Guatemala: A Guatemalan judge ordered ex-dictator Efrain Rios Montt to undergo medical exams in order to see if he’s healthy enough to stand trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

* Colombia: The Colombian government proposed purchasing some 2.5 million acres of unused farmland to redistribute among victims of the decades-long armed conflict.

* U.S.: Donald Trump may have boasted that Latino voters “love” him but a new poll indicated that 75% of Latinos view the Republican presidential candidate negatively.

* Brazil: An Amnesty International report released one year prior to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics accused the city’s police of killing 5123 people from 2005 to 2014.

YouTube Source – AFP (“Some 800 indigenous activists accompanied by workers unions marched in protest of the government of President Rafael Correa (last March), demanding that the land of their ancestors be returned.”)Online Sources – Time, The Independent, NBC News, The Guardian

Monday, August 3, 2015

* Brazil: Jose Dirceu, the former chief of staff to then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has become the latest political figure arrested over the Petrobras bribery and corruption scandal.

* Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico will most likely fall into default on its $72 billion pubic debt by the end of today if officials cannot make a $58 million payment to creditors.

Update: It's official - Puerto Rico has fallen into default for the first time in the commonwealth's history.

* Cuba: Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton publicly proposed eliminating the decades-long U.S. trade embargo against Cuba though it remains to be seen if Congress will be amenable to her suggestion.

* Colombia: Representatives of Colombia’s FARC rebels proposed meeting with Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to Cuba next month.